Angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) therapy may cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease by reducing amyloid deposition in the brain.

"To our knowledge, this is the first human evidence to suggest that treatment with ARBs may have a selective beneficial effect on amyloid metabolism," De. Ihab Hajjar, and colleagues from University of Southern California - Los Angeles, reported.

Beta-sitosterol is a plant sterol that lowers serum cholesterol. Plant sterols are produced in the refinement of vegetables or as a byproduct of papermaking from the oil of pinewood. Beta Sitosterol’s chemical structure is actually similar to cholesterol but it does not create an increased risk of atherosclerotic and/or heart a disease. The average diet provides about 175-200 mg of Beta Sitosterol, but less than 5% is actually absorbed when consumed orally so to lower cholesterol effectively you need to take a Beta Sitosterol supplement.Beta Sitosterol is commonly added to margarines as a cholesterol reducing aid. Fats are needed to solubilize plant sterols so margarines are an ideal vehicle. Smart Balance which contains plant sterols is such a spread that claims to reduce cholesterol and thereby decrease the risk of heart disease. It is most unlikely and you should NOT rely on this food product to lower cholesterol. Beta-sitosterol actually inhibits intestinal absorption of cholesterol by about 50%.

Taking beta-sitosterol orally significantly reduces total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL- “bad”) cholesterol levels, but has little or no effect on high-density lipoprotein (HDL- “good”) cholesterol levels. I have yet to read of studies that quantify if consuming Beta- Sitosterol can decrease the number of worrisome small LDL particles.

Once upon a time then a student in Mexico, I lay dying from an abscess of pathologic amoebas (not the ones you look at in elementary school) in my liver. I was in great pain and VERY toxic. I was diagnosed in a few hours of the onset of symptoms and treated with two drugs- emetine and what was then a new drug called metronidazole (Flagyl)- a drug not yet approved in the United States at that time. The combination of drugs and prompt diagnosis saved my life.

Most people with this infection do not have symptoms. If symptoms occur, they are seen 7 to 10 days after being exposed to the parasite.

The age of pharmacologic medicine continues its’ downward slide. If you are or have taken a class of drug called an alpha blocker it can cause serious complications years later during cataract surgery called floppy iris syndrome (pictured above). Perhaps the most common alpha blocker used today is tamsulosin (Flomax). Remember the ad? “If you gotta go, you gotta go!!!” Flomax helps men with enlarged prostates with symptoms of urgency. There are yet others that can cause floppy iris syndrome including Coreg (carvidilol) and Trandate (labetalol)- both with alpha blocking effects. Even if you stopped taking the drugs right now, the syndrome could occur years from today because of atrophy of the muscle that dilates the pupil.